Completed [Open] An errand for the spider

[Bethsyliss]

Syliss gloated in triumph while Shanapar worded his apology in absolute submission to her. It was as if she had reversed the roles: the predator was now prey, and the prey predator. She was in a dominant position, the same as he had been when he had hunted her with his ranged weapon back in the Burning Lands. Her heart soared with the throb of victory pounding through her veins. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth: this man had not physically wounded her but she had suffered great emotional damage. Now that she had inflicted upon him that same emotional blow, revenge was met. From now on, he would think twice before shooting at a child of Siku. But the anger that had been quenched suddenly flared up with increased intensity when Shanapar mentioned Syliss's Dhani cousins in Falyndar. She was unable to respond to that offense, which was probably more powerful than that of being mistaken as hunting game. Her eyes displayed a glare of terrible wrath and the golden streak on her left eyebrow seemed to seethe with golden fire. The continuation of his apology had no effect on her reborn anguish. His proposal for vengeance, however, managed to get her attention fairly well. She saw there the possibility of avenging the vipers for this deadly insult by ridding Mizahar of this unholy man. "What impudence is thisss?" she roared, with none of the malicious calm with which she had initially threatened Shanapar. "You dare compare me to those filthy jungle-dwellersss in ssstinking Zinrah? I will wring the life from your body for your damned insssolence!" She snatched one of the angle knives which were fastened to his belt and flicked it open. The metallic sound it made when it unsheathed was sweet to her ears. She lifted the blade above Shanapar's throat, and, with two hands, thrust the weapon downward. But she interrupted the motion as soon as the tip of the blade touched the sweating skin of her victim. Her position of power enabled her to regain control over her emotions. I am a viper, she thought, her eyes narrowing. We don't kill. We torture. Torture was one of her father's favorite activities. She had never seen him carry a session out, because he had been abducted from her by the constrictor Dhani when she was six. Now, to honor the imperishable memory of him, she was going to make him suffer, as she had suffered. "Don't move an inch, or I might ssslip," she whispered jubilantly in his ear, her human tongue flickering as a serpent's would. She placed her left hand over his mouth, and with the angle knife in her right hand, she slowly carved the letter S down the middle of his chest, ripping through the fabric of his white cotton shirt; the S stood for Siku, but also for Syliss. Shanapar's screams were choked by the hand she kept on his mouth. When she was done, the slithering shape of a snake spurted warm blood and stained his shirt a bright crimson red. The wound was not deep, for her intention was not so much to give him pain -- though that had some part in it --, but rather leave him with a permanent reminder not to mess with her or her kind. "All done," she said with a breath of satisfaction. "That will ssscar up nicely. I hope you appreciate my not carving this mark elsssewhere. But if you have another requessst, I would happily decorate your whole body that way." She let the angle knife drop right beside his head, and got up, leaving the humiliated Shanapar lying on the ground. "I sssuppose we're even, now. Ssstand up. We'll lead you to the main road." Then she added, the hint of a blaze like a spark in her eye: "And don't ever refer to me as a conssstrictor again if you plan on keeping your life." She turned her back on him, and started to walk slowly back the dark alley towards the main street of Ahnatep. She looked Singh full in the eye when she passed her. "I'm sssorry you had to witnesss that, Sssingh. It was necesssary." She was genuine about that. The words hissed out of her lips like bolts of seething spite. "Now ssshall we?" And with that she trailed out of the somber alley where blinding justice had been served.

[Singh Re Naphu]

OOCSorry I haven't been home. But I am now! Singh watched in mild amusement as Syliss had the man pinned. And with a sick string of thoughts she wished for Syliss to simply kill the man, but deep in her soul she knew she really didn't want that. As she watched her eye's narrowed and became cold when he the man looked to her for help. He would find none in Singh. His kind has taken away her husband, her child, and any possibility she once had of happiness. Singh kept quiet as Syliss carved out a scar out on his chest. While it mean't more to Syliss as she carved it for different reasons Singh saw it as a mark for her too. S for Singh who had lost everything simply to the cruelty of his kind. When Syliss looked Singh in the eye when she passed her and spoke what she was sorry for Singh to see such a thing Singh simply kept her gaze straight. In Singh's eye's the man deserved it. The Chaktawe once again proved how worthless of a race they were. And how barbaric and unthinking they were. Singh turned to the man and gave a sarcastic bow that had her hair almost touching the ground. A mock to his position in both social and physical. Giving a steely glare Singh rose and turned on her heal. While she would rather go out the other direction she felt that if she went too close to the man she would see the edge of a blade from his kind's hand once again. And is had her shaken to the bone. While he could only see her steal form her eye's that watched the back of Syliss finally showed just how bad her memories had her cold to the bone. Black as the feather's on the cloaked raven's body but also black as the darkness that plagued Singh's mind and soul, were his eyes.

[Shanapar]

Shanapar the Untamed watched the anger in the serpent woman eyes turn to blind rage when he compared her to the Dhani of Zinrah. He didn't understand his mistake, but the insult sent the woman into blind fury as she cut a S into his chest. As he watched her, he knew that she was in the wrong because this act went far beyond the original crime. The only reason he didn't grab the woman's hand shoved the dagger up into the woman's stomach was the fact he piety the poor creature that she would revert to her most primal nature in the instant she was wronged. She would die quickly in Zinrah and in the jungles of Falyndor. He decided to let her finish her blood lust, but he watched her with growing hate in his eyes as she continued gloating over her senseless act of cruelty. While the snake woman was carving a S in his chest, he couldn't help himself from crying out in pain. As she was finishing her brutality, he watched the Eypharian as she did nothing to help his bird or lifted a hand to help him from the senseless brutality. When the Enpharian watched him with hatred in her eyes, he wondered what he did to her to cause her to hate him as much as she did. He only met her to today, and he actually thought was one of the beautiful Eypharian. He had laid his eyes on, but opinion changed in a instance when she realized her beauty was only skin deep because her soul was dying in hatred. She confirmed her ignorance and her dying soul when she mocked his agony and pain with a bow. He closed his eyes not wanting to look at the fading Eypharian anymore. When the woman named Syliss got up and apologized for her senseless act of cruelty. Shanapar winced and looked over at the near panicked bird to his side. He raised Shadow from a egg, and he knew the bird wanted to help him, but he couldn't because of hood and jess. When he was free, he quickly rolled over and untied the raven from the jess. He touch up the panic bird in his arms and hugged the black bird to his bloody chest. The bird was tried to get away, but the tall man started to making a shushing sound, and the raven started to slowly calm down in his arms. He kissed the top of the birds head, and said to the bird in tawna, “It is OK, Shadow. I will not leave you alone this day. You and me will be together until Eywaat calls us home..” He took the hood of the birds head and looked into his black eyes and said softly in Tawna, “Find solace in the sky my friend because I need to deal with these lost souls.” He let go of the raven and watched him fly up onto the roof tops. The black bird looked over the edge with his black eyes started cawwhhhing at the two women loudly. Shanapar smiled up at him as the bird was almost giving the two woman a dark omen. Shanapar put the jess and the hood in his quiver, picked up his knife the snake woman used on him, and traced his fingers along the edge of the dagger contemplating what to do next. As he traced his fingers down the bloody S, he gritted his teeth as he tried to control himself from just killing the snake woman for her crime against him. He knew it wouldn't take long because the woman had zero clue how to hold the dagger, but with all the hate and anger welling up inside him, he knew he wasn't a monster at heart. He was a simple man with simple goals in life. He just wanted to grow old with a woman, and his love and him will build a tent together and start a family. They were nice dreams for the desert dweller, but he needed to find out what he looking for first, so his wandering days will have to continue. He started thinking of the day the whole day, and how all the decisions of the day lend to right now. He looked at the ground and started to laugh softly, but eventually his laugh grew louder and more intense the longer he laughed. Suddenly the wind picked up in the alley, and he slowly raised his head and looked at the two empty women. He gave them a amused sneer, and he roared at the two woman, “I guess everything. I heard about this city being the center of civilization was a lie! I used to watched this city when I was younger from the desert with childlike wonder. Wishing, I could see the splendors of this ancient city, but the Benshira were right about Ahnatep. It is empty city filled with empty people, and the only thing filling the souls of the Dhani and the Eypharian within the city are hatred, envy, and blind arrogance!” He pointed the dagger at the snake woman and said with venom in his voice, “Don't you ever come at me with a dagger again until you learn how to use it, Syliss! I am not sure if the city had made you soft, viper, but you hold the dagger like a kitchen knife. If the tables were turned, and you didn't have the element surprise. I would have cut you down with your inept ability to use a weapon. If you didn't attack me, I might of actually taught you how to fight with one.” He lowered his dagger, and he gave her a look of disgust, and shook his head and continued, “Just remember this Dhani that I gave you your power today and deep down in your cold heart. You know it is true!” He could tell his anger was subsiding, but he kept his dagger behind his back just in case the viper does something stupid. He took a deep breath and said to the snake woman, “If you don't remembered, Syliss, I spent the whole day trying to make up my mistake to you two. I felt terrible for the pain. I put you though. You were such a beauty serpent, and I didn't want to shoot at you at first, but I was hungry at the time, and I haven't eaten for days. Both our patron god and goddess come from the same mother, Caiyha.” He ran a hand through his hair, and said calmly, “When your mother or father told you about the Kihala and Dira, and since you are a hunter by nature, you should understand the relationship of prey and predator. I hunted you because I was hungry, and when I saw you, you were a easy target. If I would have known you were a Dhani before hand, I would have stopped immediately, but you were in snake form, so you were my prey at the time.” Shanapar felt the sting of his mark, and he shook his head at her, “You have the right to be angry at me for hunting you, but you have no right to torture me to satisfy your sick desire for revenge. It is sad that such a noble race would resort to such barbarism to resolve their problems. If the Dhani race start reverting back into their animal nature, your kind will be no different than a Zith.” Shanapar the Untamed turned his head to Singh, and he gave the proud Eypharian a look of piety. He stayed silent for a moment and said softly, “When I look at you Lady Singh, I see a beautiful Eypharian vase with elaborate artwork. When people look at it, they have to stop and admire it's beauty for all its glory.” He sighed and looked at the ground for a moment, and he raised his black eyes and looked into her eyes, “However, when you look inside the vase, it isn't filled with flowers or beautiful beads. It is empty, alone, and fading away into obscurity. I feel sorry for the vase, and I wish to see it filled with flowers once more.” He heard the cry of his raven, but Shanapar black eyes was watching her the whole time. He continued softy to her trying to ignore the pain in the center of his chest, “What happened in your past to make you hate my race as much as you do? When I asked for your help you turned you back on me, and when you turned around to face me, you mocked my agony. Are you really that dead inside that you lost all compassion for another person in this world?” He shook his head and said, “You Eypharian call my people barbarians and uncivilized, but we aren't a bunch of savages. We are just people trying to survive in the desert. We are happy people with simple lives. Do you want to know what I want more than anything in my simple life? I want a family. I want a loving wife and a litter of children messing up my wife's tent.” He shook his head wondering why the city dweller's can't see beyond their walls and he continues, “It is unfair you paint us as barbarians because it just shows your people ignorance in the end.”

[Singh Re Naphu]

OOCSyliss Imma go ahead and take this reply you get the next? Singh didn't turn around as he talked but she did slowly when he addressed her. Her turned her head slowly and watched to bloody... man. She didn't want his piety. She wanted anything but it. She wasn't the blind child she was before. She had faced her moment, her call to arms. She was the woman she was today because of it. She was strong and a vase full of life. Full of stones. Not the pretty ones but the ones that you always remember because.. Singh stopped her thoughts. Calmly, with inner struggle, she turned her body fully to the man. "I am a woman of few words, Shanapar the Untamed" Singh collected her thoughts, "The sweetest and prettiest flower will be picked and die but the scentless and ugly will live on to see brighter days." Singh made a pointed look to his new mark. She lifted her cloth but a small bit and showed the nasty scar on her stomach. The one that caused her to be like this. "Black eye's stole the life of two. And left a vase full of stones." Singh paused and covered the scar again, "Not the pretty ones, the ones that are heavy and you realize their weight." Singh spoke again this time with a slight bite, "Is it fair that I had a husband and a child, unborn but soon to run the floors of my home, and come to wake up and walk pregnant through his blood as I search for him. He who had still not been found." Singh's eye's felt like fire and unknowingly hot tears silently fell, "And when I go to run to protect my unborn child. I am stabbed by black eyes. Black eye's that carry more hatred than I could ever truly hold. I knew not her name. I knew not her voice. But what I know is that if they can kill with out being provoked and then stab new life without thought, then why should I remain calm to them." Singh finally noticed her tears and clenched the fist with her tattoo. No longer choosing to speak in common Singh spoke Arumenic while staring at her star, " I have a half of me that still lives. But she lives the life on the edge of a blade. If she were to leave all I would be is a shell. All the rocks in that beautiful vase would break out and slowly melt away." Singh returned back to common, "I am a woman of few words Shanapar the Untamed. But when I speak to you" Singh referred to his kind, "I have untold words that wish to show you true pain. To show you what your kind has done to me."

[Bethsyliss]

After she had inflicted retribution upon Shanapar's person, Syliss's anger had faded away with the knowledge that justice had been set right for her again. However, Shanapar's insults revived the flame that had been extinguished. She suddenly turned around and looked at him, her golden eyes blazing with fury once again. Hatred, envy, and blind arrogance? she repeated in the voice of her mind, nevertheless remaining outwardly silent. Hatred, for a man who made an attempt on my life asss if I were only game? Envy, towardsss he whose crimes dwell unpunished beneath the watchful starsss? And blind arrogance, in the face of a monssster who has ssshown nothing else than blind inhumanity? Oh, my emotionsss are fair beyond all jussstification. Maybe he's asssking for more ssscars. Her eyes narrowed as she imagined at least fifty more ways she could make him suffer further. She took one step forward, but stopped as Shanapar continued his fit of accusations. Like a kitchen knife?! she repeated within the vaults of her mind. A myriad of ancient memories filled her brain all at once. She remembered her father's mastery of the dagger, that she had witnessed on that fateful day when he was taken away from her by the constrictor party. She looked at Shanapar, but her eyes were empty, because they were probing inwardly at scenes past long ago. She was no longer in the dark alley of Ahnatep, but in the viper nest where she had been born and nurtured, where she had lost a man she loved, where she had suffered his gaping absence for ninety years. The golden streak on her left eyebrow seethed with pain as she envisioned the few pictures of her father that had been engraved in her brain. The anguish that bore through her entrails was so strong that she was certain it could be felt all over the world. She wasn't entirely wrong, since it so happened that her Kelvic bondmate Ronin shared it with her, relieving her of some part of the burden. A sense of security then came over her, a warm, reassuring feeling, that she was certain was Ronin's way of easing her terrible agony. Feeling slightly better, she returned to her physical presence. Shanapar spat the last few words of his spite before Singh started talking. Her voice filled the air with a languid song of deep sorrow, a music borrowing notes from beyond the grave. Syliss remembered that Singh was in mourning, though she didn't have the details. Her respect for her Eypharian friend meant she wasn't going to nose into her personal business unless she was willing to disclose her grief. Being a woman of few words, as she pointedly reminded, that had not happened during the ten days they had known each other for. Words of wisdom departed from her lips like breaths of cold wind. Weaved among those, she told her story, and to Syliss it was as though the unbearable sense of loss Singh communicated and with which Syliss identified was going to break her heart, for she knew the apparent softness which marked her tale masked a tragedy tainted with utmost violence and utter sadness. Syliss's grasp of the Arumenic language was poor, but she had no difficulty understanding Singh's words when she spoke it, because they were pure manifestations of her devastated feelings, and those were spoken in the language of the heart rather than in that of any tongue. She buckled up her speech artfully with fateful cadence, and that rhythm brought tears to Syliss's eyes. She dried her tears in the silence that followed then. The stillness was similar to the lingering vibrations the strike of a gong left after it had sounded. Syliss lifted her chin and spoke. "Ssshanapar the Untamed, of the Sssuli tribe. What do you know of pain, other than the gift I bestowed upon your gaping chessst? It ssslithers now like the mark of your devilish foolishnesss, and forever will remind you to treat my kind with ressspect if you will not fear them. What do you know of the ssscars of time itself, when you have trodden upon the world a quarter of the time I have spent in sssuffering the losss of my beloved onesss? No, you do know what it means to be hunted, what it means to be powerless, what it means to lose everything you love only for the sssake of nothing. Let my act of vengeance ssserve as a glimpssse of the life of those who know, who hurt every day, who live in the hopesss that one day justice may be given back to them." She sighed then, but in part it was not her own sigh that escaped her lips -- rather the shared emotion of her supportive bondmate, even though he was not present. "Ssshanapar of the Sssuli tribe. I do not like you, nor do I hate you, for I have made us even, though you may think otherwissse. Do not dishonor your family by giving me any reason to, lessst you want to cause the wrath of my people to befall upon yoursss. You may follow me if you wisssh, and I will lead you to the main road, as you are now a citizen of the sssame city as I and I do not refuse a fellow citizen an honessst favour. But unlesss you are willing to learn about pain the hard way, as have Sssingh and I, you will act in the civilized manner you claim to be the true way of your people." She was about to turn around to lead them out of the dark alley, but added, as an afterthought: "And for the record, your dagger isssn't a weapon. It is a kitchen knife." She looked at them both expectantly, awaiting to see what they would decide to do next.

[Shanapar]

Shanapar listened to Singh heartbreaking story about the brutal slaying of her husband and unborn child by the hands of murderous Chaktawe woman. He started to wonder if the murder knew the husband somehow, and she murdered him out of jealousy, but it was not his place to ask those questions when the woman was pouring her heart out to him. He just shook his head at the brutality of the crime. She lost everything to the hands of one Chaktawe, but she shouldn't blame the whole of his race on the act of one vile woman. Shanapar sheathed his curved dagger, and he looked at the Eypharian woman and said softly, “I know my words mean nothing to you, but I am sorry that the monster who took your husband and baby away still roams free.” He ran bloody hand through his black hair, shook head at her whole situation, and continued, “I know you set the blame of your families death at the feet of Chaktawe people as whole, but I think the stones of hatred that fill your vase is blinding you to the fact that one person murdered your family. It could have been any random people in Ahnatep. It could have been one of your own people, but the hands of fate decided it to be at the hand a vile chaktawe woman.” Still ignoring the fuming serpent woman, Shanapar couldn't believe he was offering this to the Eypharian after everything that happened today, but he felt like he had to for the sake of his people reputation and the sake of the woman's soul. Shanapar looked into her eyes and said softly, “I see now you are much stronger than I thought Lady Singh, so since I was in a similar situation until a few years ago. I can sympathize with you, and I understand that the only way to heal completely if you get some closer. This is what I propose Lady Singh, and I will only offer it to you only once. If you wish it, I will do everything in my power to find this vile woman and bring her to justice. She is most likely hiding out in the safety of my people, and we tend not to allow any outsider in our villages for good reasons.” His eyes flicker to Syliss for a tick and than back to Singh, and he continued softly, “You can join me, and we can root out this villain together, but when I find her, you will be the one to deal out the justice.” He was a honorable man, and he wanted to make thing right for Eypharian woman even if she would hate him till the end of time. He looked at her and said softly, “I want you to think long and hard, and if you wish my help to find this woman, my camp is on the second bend across from the river cliffs.” Shanapar turned and listened in silence to Dhani woman tell him once again about her pain. He didn't know her father was killed by a constrictor Dhani, and he realized why she got so angry when he compared her to a constrictors from Falyndor. She was a prideful woman, but he noticed he was starting to respect the snake woman little by little, but he wasn't going to admit it to her at the moment. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction and start holding it over his head. Shanapar wiped around at her threat and said to the Dhani with a frown, “As I said to Lady Singh, I also do have a sad story that I wish not to tell you right now, Syliss. As you just said, we are even. I gave you your apology, and on top of it, I gave you the chance to take your revenge with my death, but you didn't take it, so in my mind, my crime that I committed in the desert was paid in full, so please don't threaten my life again because the next time you try, I will not be too easily taken by surprise...” Shanapar shook his head in disgust and said softly, “Unfortunately, you see the world in absolutes Syliss, and you don't see the truth in the matter that day, I made a terrible mistake in the desert. It wasn't driven out malice or cruelty, but it was driven out of hunger. If I would have known you were Dhani, I would have never hunted you.” He still had his own pride to deal with too. He decided to reward her honesty with a apology of his own, “Syliss, I was wrong to compare you to constrictor since they were the reason for your beloved father's death. Remember, I only will offer this once. I will teach you what I know about combat. When I look at you, Syliss, I see prideful and stubborn woman, but you do have a heart of warrior inside you. If you accept my offer than come to my camp by the river. Think about it long and hard. I know I will..” He started to trail off in Tawna, “I am starting to wonder if I am going to regret this in the end...” Starting to feel the effects of blood loss, Shanapar knew he needed to treat his wound, so he needed to get to the main street to find a doctor. He looked at the two woman and accepted Syliss offer, “I am feeling fatigued and emotionally drained right now. I need to clean the gift you gave me before it starts to fester, so I will follow behind you down the alley, but don't take offense if I don't walk in front of you Lady Syliss” He laughed out loud at Syliss's joke about his knife, he gave his own witty retort of his own to the snake woman, “Well if it is a kitchen knife than you should be a expert with using it...” He will never let the snake woman get the upper hand on him again even if it is witty comments. He takes the jess and hood out from his quiver, and he looked up at the raven on the room and brought his fingers to his lips to let out a high pitched whistle. The raven gave him a look and caawwhh before flying down to his outstretched gloved hand. Once the bird lands on his gloved forearm, he tied the jess to the birds leg and put the hood on the raven head. He whispers to the raven in tawna, “Don't look directly into the Dhani's eyes, Shadow. She can turn your blood to ice just by looking at you.” The raven tilted his head to the side and gave him a quiet caawwhh. Shanapar looked at the two ladies and said with a polite smile, “Lead on ladies... I will be right behind you.”

[Singh Re Naphu]

Singh couldn't do it. As much as she would love to find the woman who ruined her, she couldn't. She couldn't leave behind Esha nor could she leave with the Chaktawe even if he could be trusted, not that he could. But Singh said nothing. She had said too much as is and was a small mess for it. Singh new that in time she would mend herself and didn't need the help of this Chaktawe but in the back her mind the thoughts lingered on revenge. 'Revenge will get you no where. It is simply a means of end in which the blind seer gives the wise fool a better path.' Singh couldn't give her killer the satisfaction of a new life. 'But they need to suffer.' Singh was lost in thought when she noticed there was no talking. Focusing her eye's back unto the Chaktawe she noticed he was looking at them waiting. Singh slowly turned and started to walk out of the alley. She didn't look back, she couldn't. 'Singh, my dear. One day you'll be given a chance for a new life. And you must take it.' The thought struck her to the core. Singh stopped and stared wide-eyed at the crowd just around the bend. Esha had told her that around the beginning of Singh's mourning. Singh truly didn't believe that her chance would be handed to her. But now it was. In black eye's that held the want to help. 'Black eyes. Black eye's are my contentment and yet my savior.' Singh turned back to Shanapar,"I'll go."

[Bethsyliss]

Syliss's blood boiled as Shanapar proceeded to tell her exactly how he felt about her. At every bold assertion concerning who she was she wanted to retort by saying something degrading about him, but he simply continued on, not letting her get a word in edgeways. Flatly ssstating that someone sssees the world in absolutes is proof in itssself that you sssee the world in absssolutesss, you hotheaded idiot, she said to herself since she wasn't given the opportunity to voice her irritation. When he mentioned her father, misunderstanding the evasive allusion she had made to his abduction, she started to cut him off: "My father'sss death? You --"; but seeing as she had no success in interrupting his complacent speech, she decided to wait until he was finished, all the while making up a wide array of flowery insults in different possible combinations from the three languages she knew. Then Shanapar offered to teach Syliss some combat skills. Her eyes widened slightly. That has got some interesssting posssibilitiesss, she thought. That way he won't ever dare to get on my bad ssside, he'll have more than repaid his debt to me, and I'll honor the living memory of my father by learning how to wield hisss weapon of choice. That is definitely sssomething to ssseriousssly consssider for the coming ssseason... Besides, Singh has already consssented to accepting his help. Syliss rolled her eyes while Shanapar complained about what he referred to as her gift to him, implicitly demonstrating that he accepted his punishment and acknowledged that they were even. She was flattered about the importance he bestowed upon her person when he used the respectful title usually reserved for high-class women before her name. What she was less flattered about was his snug comment. Despite his position, he was actually mocking her by poking at her sense of pride. Figuring that an angry answer would only satisfy his need to get back at her, he turned her head towards him, and simply laughed. Then she composed a perfectly straight face, narrowed her eyes viciously, and said: "I could cook you, but I don't think you'd tassste very good." Content, she turned on her heels and begun leading the way out of the dark alleyway which she would forever remember as that odd place where she met Shanapar the Untamed. She and Singh often stopped on the way to the main street, for Shanapar, experiencing the effects of blood loss from his recent maiming, was slow to follow. They did not speak much, for what they had just lived made a great impact on Syliss's mind -- and, she figured, probably on Singh's as well. They had only just learned a great deal about each other, and all the information needed a little time to sink in. Syliss had already known that her friend mourned the loss of a loved one, but she did not know more, nor did she want to know unless Singh was willing to disclose her life story, because she sensed Singh's quiet character was due to the pain her grief caused her. Now, in the dramatic event that had taken place minutes ago, all of that contained anguish had been spilled out brutally. Had Shanapar not popped up, Singh and Syliss would probably still be withholding the particulars of their past until something else came up to shake the unstable emotional equilibria they strove to maintain. Syliss assumed it was the same for Singh, because, in what the Eypharian woman had said, she had recognized herself through the intense feelings that were conveyed. Beneath a deceitful veneer of beauty and calm, Syliss would now always see into Singh's tumultuous and bleeding interior. Compassion and empathy crept up on her like never before. That must be the kind of bond one shares with siblings, she thought, and trod on silently, Singh at her side. During one of those lingering halts while they waited for the weakened man to catch up with them, she turned to Singh and clasped two of her hands. The gesture was slightly inadequate, considering the increased number of limbs Singh was blessed with; but the touch, she felt, channeled the renewed affection Syliss regarded Singh with, and that was all that mattered to her. "My friend Sssingh," she said, looking her straight in the eye. "Your tale has ssstruck a chord in my heart which will never cease to sssound the ring of sssorrow until you have been avenged. I pledge to aid you in the sssearch of the Chaktawe that has wrought sssuch horrors upon you and to sssupport you in whatever path you may choose. You have my word for it." Syliss's eyes tried to hold back on tears that were welling up as the golden streak on her left eyebrow glowed with the promise she had just given, both her hands still into two of Singh's.

[Singh Re Naphu]

Singh listened to Syliss but she couldn't take anything to heart. She couldn't nor wouldn't drag Syliss into her messy past. Besides she didn't want to kill the woman. But simply make her... equal to Singh. Singh didn't know the woman, didn't remember much, and was going off of barely anything in-order to put a glove over the right killer. But Singh couldn't deny the feeling Syliss had. It would be beyond rude and ill-minded of her. Singh brought her other hands to cup Syliss' face, "My dear Syliss. There will always be a spot for you in my accompaniment. And always a spot around my neck for you to take comfort. But I cannot hold you down with the weights of the past. If you come is must be on your own doing. Not for mine."

[Shanapar]

Syliss gave him a grin that could curdle milk, and threaten to cook him. Shanapar laughed out loud at the Dhani's joke. Not in a sarcastic or cynical way, the black eyed man actually thought what she said was generally funny. She must have meant it as a vicious insult, but it could have been cultural difference, but he took it as a lighthearted joke. Shanapar looked at her and added his own witty commentary, “You should ask a Myrian how Chaktawe taste. They say we taste like chicken, but I am sure with the right ingredients.We could be rather tasty. However, you would have to ask a Myrian to make sure since I have no clue.” He figured he let the Dhani dwell on the “pleasant” thought as they walked down the alley. Shanapar could tell he peeked the interest of the two women with his offers since they were both walking in silence. On the other hand, he wasn't faring to well, but he wasn't going to show weakness to the woman who caused whole mess to begin with. He pressed his hand free hand up against the wound to stop the bleeding as he walked down the alley. When Shanapar made it to the main street, he was surprised when the Eypharian woman turned around and simply said, “I'll go.” From the look in her eye, he could tell those two words meant more than anything in her world right now. Shanapar knew the road. She would be going down would be tough one, and she may not be same person afterward, but the woman needed closure, so she could heal. Regardless of popular opinion, Shanapar wasn't a evil man. He just looked at the world much differentially than the city dwellers. He stayed silent as he watched the touching exchange between the two woman. He wished he had friendship like theirs, but the six years spent in Falyndor made Shanapar cold and unapproachable young man. The only thing he had in his life was his bird, and he was hoping coming back to Ahnatep and the Burning Sands he could escape his past, but once again, he jumped at the opportunity to help another person seek justice. Shanapar smiled at the wisdom of Singh last words to Syliss, and he could tell the Dhani was eager to help her friend. Shanapar decided to say something to them, “When I look at you two, I envy the friendship you both have. Your a lucky woman, Singh. You have a true friend standing in front of you. I honestly think she would walk through the fires of hell for you.” Shanapar looked at the crowded road and he felt a ping of panic grip him, but he turned and said to Singh softly with a nod, “I am honor bound to you now, Lady Singh. I promise we will find the villain who murdered your family. Whenever you need me, I will come.” He stared at her until she realized he pledged himself to her until the task is complete, but a part of him didn't mind being honor bound to the Eypharian woman. He looked at Syliss and said with a playful smirk, “You are definitely a interesting person, Syliss. I think it will be fun to get to know you better if you don't kill me first...” After saying what he had to say, Shanapar started walking down the main road, but he stopped and said to Syliss without turning around, “When my scar heals, I plan on getting a snake tattoo over the scar to honor both your goddess and the woman who gave it too me.” When he was finished he slipped into the crowd and disappeared into the sea of people.